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Steven Armstrong
Steven Armstrong was born and raised in Texas. Prior to pursuing politics at the national stage, Armstrong played college football for the University of Texas, but joined the United States Navy due to wanting to serve his country, which also sacrificed his chances of going pro. However, although a member of the Navy, he never saw actual combat during his time in the service. By the time of 2018, he maintained his physique and even managed to enhance it further via nanomachines, in order to put his strength on par with a cyborg soldier. He is the CEO of World Marshal Inc., with notable members including Jetstream Sam and Sundowner. Armstrong eventually ran for state senator of the state of Colorado. One of the initiatives he spearheaded while acting as state senator was slashing the state budget, leading to privatization of the police force, and allowing World Marshal to gain control of the Denver Police Department. Armstrong was eventually elected to one of Colorado's senate seats. In 2016, Armstrong delivered a speech to increase his approval ratings, later expressing to his speech writer the belief that people only cared about the spin you put on it, and no longer cared about information control, or even right or wrong. The speech writer warned him that he would appear before a grand jury if his connection to Desperado PMSC was revealed, which Armstrong refuted, given his belief that ordinary citizens could care less due to believing that money was the only thing that truly mattered. Armstrong also expressed a desire to actually remake America's position as the most powerful nation in the world and reclaim the American Dream, also blithely stating that the Tea Party Movement was not going to succeed due to its unwillingness to make sacrifices, implying that he wanted to bring about another American Revolution, and compared himself to the true Sons of Liberty. Armstrong then dismissed him as he had other matters to attend to, although not before promising to talk to him soon. The conversation was later leaked onto the Internet.3 That same year, just as was feared by his speechwriter, he was investigated for his ties to World Marshal Inc., the world's largest PMC as well as the largest distributor of cybernetic parts. Despite this, he was still considered a presidential nominee for the 2020 elections, and was even considered to be a "shoo-in". At some point after his investigation, Armstrong and World Marshal/Desperado took an interest in Samuel Rodrigues' abilities, and arranged for him to arrive at Denver. After Sam managed to defeat a Metal Gear RAY UMG unit, he then proceeded to invite Sam to the roof via the PA for a "final interview." When Sam boarded an elevator to the roof, he contacted Sam and informed him that he was like him in several respects, despite Sam's insistance that he kill Armstrong for "sacrificing soldiers from his cozy office." He then met with Sam and powered up to his maximum form. After an intense battle, Sam seemingly was victorious over Armstrong. Armstrong then requested him to join so they could end war as a business. Sam considered the idea, but decided to just "take his hand." Sam managed to slice off Armstrong's right hand off (the same way he would eventually slice off Raiden's arm), but Armstrong uses his nanomachines to turn his wound into a blade and uses it to significantly injure Sam's right arm.After quickly attaching his severed hand back onto his arm, Armstrong proceeded to successfully recruit Sam. He also plotted for Operation Tecumseh, which involved starting a war with Pakistan under false pretenses while President Hamilton is visiting the country with Pakistani President Farooq Salam for peace talks. He later fought against Raiden in Pakistan with Metal Gear EXCELSUS. He also revealed that, since the fall of SOP and the Patriots, America was hit with a recession, hence he needed to orchestrate a false flag operation to ensure the war economy to put America back to work again. In addition, although his initial plan was to assassinate the president, he decided instead to have the American base framed for being killed by Pakistani extremists, feeling that would have accomplished things all the same. However, he fought Raiden because he is the only one who would expose the truth of what happened. After it was destroyed, he proceeded to fight Raiden and even bring him to his mercy. During the battle, he explained his motives of wanting to remake America, feeling it had become rotten to the core, and re-establish America as a world where people fight for their own reasons, rather than that of the government. Raiden then deduced that he was not merely a "greedy politician" as he initially thought, but completely insane due to his reference to culling the weak and having the strong be free. Although Raiden attempted to defeat Armstrong, he ultimately proved to be too powerful, with Armstrong revealing his nanomachines to be the cause of his nigh-invulnerability. Armstrong then proceeded to savagely beat Raiden to a pulp with his enhanced strength, with his blows being powerful enough to heavily damage and even destroy EXCELSUS's ruined frame. However, Bladewolf saved him by bringing to him Samuel Rodrigues' sword. Armstrong, angrily calling Bladewolf a "little fuck" and a "damn mutt" for its defiance, kicked it away, although not before Bladewolf threw the sword to Raiden. Raiden then proceeded to fight a grueling battle against Armstrong, which eventually cumulated in Armstrong slamming Raiden down onto the ground hard enough to knock Raiden's sword away, and then grab Raiden by the neck and lift him up. Raiden then broke free via a roundhouse kick and retrieved the Muramasa. Armstrong then tried to land a right punch on Raiden, only for Raiden to successfully parry the blow away, also injuring his right hand in the process. Undeterred, Armstrong then tries to use a left jab on Raiden, only for Raiden to do the same to his left hand. Left with injured arms, Armstrong then attempted to charge Raiden, only for Raiden to slice his chest and then stab him in the gut. The stabbing temporarily stunned him, but Armstrong then let out a feral roar and grappled with Raiden. Raiden eventually overpowered the grapple and headbutted him in the head, stunning Armstrong and causing Raiden to remove the sword from the gut, and then proceeded to cut up his nanite core before impaling his chest with his arm. Upon being defeated, Raiden then finishes the former senator off by ripping out his nanomachine-laced pale heart and crushing it with his hand. As he died, Armstrong nonetheless accepted his defeat and declared Raiden his successor, stating that they are kindred spirits in the sense that Raiden fights for what he believes in no matter what. Despite his death, and thus World Marshal's funding being crippled, World Marshal itself nonetheless continued to exist, and his plan of reorchestrating the War Economy nonetheless succeeded. Battle vs. Man-Thing (by Monkey Doctor 33) Citrusville, Florida An armored truck is seen driving on a road leading to Citrusville. Inside, Steven Armstrong is sitting on the back, looking bored as ever. He participated in a hot debate this morning, sat in an uninteresting meeting with the World Marshal Incorporated, and recruited a cyborg to his cause. His nanomachines grants him increased stamina, but it doesn't grant him superhuman resistance to bullshit. After he had recruited Mister Sam, he received a phone call from a contact in Florida who claimed to have discovered the death of one of Armstrong's cronies. Armstrong didn't expect such interference and wanted to just end the day with a long nap. Even though he doesn't need it, he knows not of what to do next. Gazing out to the window, Armstrong remains silent until the person next to him strikes up a conversation. "So boss, whaddaya think killed that little guy?" "At this point, I'm still inclined to disbelieve what she said, Sundowner." The man beside him is revealed to be Sundowner, the leader of Armstrong's personal hit-squad. Armstrong replies his question while still looking out the window. "If Raiden killed Monsoon..." "Not even possible. That bastard ain't got no business in the Everglades!" Armstrong says, now turning away from the window and to the front. "Or has your new guy gone rogue? Sam doesn't seem to be following your shit." Sundowner states, folding his big arms, covered by his equally large trench coat. "Still no reason to be in the Everglades. I just wanna see his corpse and continue his crap tomorrow. I have more stuffs to deal with." "Whatever you say, boss." A brief moment of silence follows, and Armstrong thinks of who killed Monsoon. His Winds of Destruction are all more than a match for both Raiden and Sam. And aside from that green giant who bothered him a week ago, he has no idea. For a record, much of his shady stuffs are shielded by "trusty" people. Nevertheless, he stays silent and waits for the journey to end. - Finally entering the town, Armstrong and Sundowner exit the truck. To their surprise, there's no one in town except a group of soldiers affiliated to the Senator himself Seeing this, Armstrong comments, "Well boys, what did I miss?" A cyborg steps forward and informs him, "We have secured the entire town and ordered the civilians to stay inside. There's no one here to see us." "Nice to know, hoss. But our holy crusader here needs to know why the fuck did the little guy die." Sundowner responds bluntly. Armstrong whispers a little curse to Sundowner and speaks with them. "Fuck off. So, where's Mistral?" Armstrong's request is responded by the female cyborg herself showing up, jumping literally out of nowhere to Armstrong's presence. "Here I am, Monsieur Armstrong." "Cut the shit, Mistral. Tell me what happened." Mistral answers Armstrong's statement while circling around him in a suggestive manner. Armstrong simply sighs in disappointment. "You see, Monsoon was trying to take a day off and decided that an idyllic town like this would be the best spot to hang around. Well, let's just say he didn't heed the locals' warning." "Warning?" Confused, he briefly turns to Mistral before looking at Sundowner, who shrugs. He can't believe that one of his toughest cyborgs died only because he, well, he doesn't really know but, maybe falling off a cliff? "The locals here, even the police, believe in this bestioles they call the Homme-Chose." Mistral says. "I'm not a fucking linguist, Mistral. Did Raiden fuck your CPU in Abkhazia?" "Heh, I enjoy toying around, Armstrong. But sometimes, there are things you just don't want to confront. Still, if you want to know who this Homme-Chose is, it's better for you to look at those SHIELD files you hacked." "We only have the files on those Halloween folks back in Avengers Tower, sister. We ain't got no folders or files on the supernatural, or any of that shit." "Then what if I mention... the Man-Thing?" Mistral's statement attracts Armstrong's attention. "Man-Thing? Seriously? It's called the Man-Thing?" Armstrong says with disbelieve. "Come with me." Mistral beckons. Armstrong and Sundowner follow her while the Senator's soldiers go another way, heading to one of their own trucks. - Approaching the Everglades, Armstrong sees the stinky swamp in front of him and guesses, "This is where the Man-Thing lives?" "Surprisingly, yes, mon ami. The Man-Thing is known by the locals to be the protector of what they call the Nexus of All Realities. Or, if you want less crap, he simply protects the swamp." "So Monsoon somehow had a swamp fetish and entered the Everglades, where he was fucked by a muck monster?" "Exactly." Mistral proceeds to snap her fingers and two soldiers carrying a body bag are summoned. Armstrong sees it with relative calmness, knowing what's inside. "Lemme guess, he was torn apart?" Mistral chuckles to Armstrong's guess. "If I told you, whoever knows fear, burns at the touch of... the '''Man-Thing?" Mistral states while doing amateur gestures seemingly done to scare Armstrong. The Senator sighs in embarassment and responds. "You really believe in that shit? I thought you didn't fuck with marijuana in Algeria." "Trust me, Senator. I know what I'm talking about. And if you think he simply died of fire, you should take a look yourself." Hearing her, Armstrong looks at Sundowner, who confidently says, "Your call, boss." Armstrong opens it, revealing what's inside. When he sees the corpse, he just can't believe that he simply died out of being burned. Monsoon's corpse is somewhat mangled, with his remaining organic parts forcibly fused with his machines while having burn marks. His lower body turned to ash, and his arms are literally reduced to stick-like protrusions. Even Sundowner is somewhat unsettled by this. Armstrong takes keen interest and examines the corpse for a while. "Tell me, have you ever done something like this?" Armstrong's question is replied by Sundowner. "We mangle corpses, but never like this." "Surprisingly true, Sundowner." Armstrong continues examining the destroyed body and observes Monsoon's wrecked head. His jaws, while damaged, were still somewhat intact. Seeing this, Armstrong focuses his attention on it and found out something bizarre. "Say, Mistral, did you say that this Man-Thing guy burns people if they're scared?" "Even if you have the slightest hint of fear, yes." Knowing this, Armstrong thinks that this Man-Thing is a formidable opponent even for Monsoon, or an enduring one even. Monsoon has many weapons of mass destruction within him and can take on Mr. Jack himself, but losing to this Man-Thing and eventually getting scared of him is something. "So, what do we do, boss?" Sundowner asks while shrugging. Armstrong stands and looks to him and Mistral. He smiles, confusing the two cyborgs who look at each other. He raises his glasses and takes off his blue suit. Seeing this, Sundowner responds. "You're going after him, are you?" "I'm no Avenger, but I sure as hell am gonna make that bastard pay. Now, where's that EXCELSUS Battery you got..." - Deep within the Everglades, the inhabitants of the swamps are eerily silent as the presence of the Man-Thing enters the scene. It's been hours since he's taken care of that being called Monsoon. In his life, he knew that people who entered his swamp were either strayers or those with intentions both good and bad. Monsoon? He was somewhat all of those, but Sallis knew his bigger picture when he entered the swamp. As the Man-Thing lumbers through the swamp, a flash of light appears behind him. The Man-Thing is unsurprised, but the light certainly takes his attention. Turning his head, a woman appears. This woman is Jennifer Kale, an ally to the Nexus' Guardian and his closest confidant. Floating near Man-Thing, she tells him, "Seems like you're right. More's coming." Incapable of speech, Man-Thing responds in silence after turning towards her. Nevertheless, the telepathic bond between the two allows Jennifer to know what Sallis thinks. "Yeah, I know. It isn't your business, but you know they're never up to good, right?" The Man-Thing answers by grunting and heads off to another direction. Although so, Jennifer still speaks to him. "One of them's coming here, and he's the biggest fish you can fry." Man-Thing still walks away from Kale, until she mentions the man's name. "It's Armstrong." Man-Thing briefly stops, immobilizing himself. A brief silence represents Man-Thing telepathically speaking to her, and she shortly answers. "Armstrong's a menace, Sallis. You don't stop him, alright, the world outside will be the one to pay. But right now, he's going after you. He's stronger than you, he's tougher than you, and the moment he finds out of the Nexus, you know what he'll want." Man-Thing replies by turning to her and giving a deathly gaze with his red eyes. Kale understands and once again speaks. "Just be careful, Man-Thing. Senator's here only for vengeance, but believe me, he's so much of an aberration even Zhered-Na knows of the threat he poses." After he listened to Kale, finally he gestures her to leave. She complies, but not before giving him a good luck. As Kale disappears once again in a flash of light, Man-Thing suddenly descends to the swamp's murky waters, waiting for Armstrong to enter the Everglades. - "That should do it." Armstrong says while flexing. He's been re-energized by a giant machine that acts as a power source for Armstrong's nanomachines. Now ready to hunt some vegetables, Armstrong stands in front of the swamp's entrance with electricity surging through his body. Sundowner approaches Armstrong and comments. "Don't be scared, boss. Don't give a fuck about all those suspicions your speech writer had, Raiden cuttin' down your ass like steak, and..." Armstrong responds by pushing him away in annoyance. "This vegetable ain't getting nothing from me, boy. For now, you stand-by and keep all these bitches in line. Oh and please, stay away from the townfolks. I don't want people to screw up the polls." Sundowner nods in compliance and walks away with Mistral and the other cyborgs to a safe place. Armstrong proceeds to walk into the swamp, not knowing that the Man-Thing is expecting him. - Walking through the swamp, Armstrong walks hindered as the mud constantly sticks to his shoes. Armstrong doesn't mind, but he wants to get the job done ASAP. Armstrong looks around as he tries to find the Man-Thing. Unknown to him, a nearby plant actually generates an eye that observes Armstrong's movement. As the Senator moves, the eye focuses itself more and more into Armstrong. However, the moment Armstrong feels that he's watched, he turns to a patchwork of plants. The eye that saw him was no longer there. "I must be dreaming." Armstrong says. After he looked at the patch for a while, he decides to ignore it and continue his walk. The deeper he goes into the swamp, the stranger Armstrong feels. The swamp gives off a sort of uneasiness to Steven, but he's not entirely scared. But fear isn't one even superhumans can't shrug off, and Armstrong suddenly stops his tracks when he suddenly doubts himself. Stunned, Armstrong quickly returns to his senses, cursing himself out of confusion as he realizes that he somehow felt discomfort within his mind. And such discomfort isn't natural to him. "The fuck?" Armstrong's curse is followed up by the sound of water splashing at a distance. Turning to its direction, Armstrong shrinks his eyes and raises his glasses. Walking to the source, he finds nothing but idle lily pads. An annoyed Armstrong sighs in disappointment and anger. "Stupid swamp, playin' with my goddamn brain!" Pissed off, Armstrong storms away from the lily pad and delivers a splashing kick. He then proceeds to scream in anger, as he can't find this Man-Thing. "Where the fuckin' hell are you, you coward-ass shit!" Unbeknownst to Steven, the Man-Thing has been hiding underneath those lily pads and waits for the right time to ambush. With the nanomachine-infused warmonger being distracted, Man-Thing springs out of the lily pads with a huge roar, trying to smash him. However, the nanomachines' speed allows Armstrong to react just in time, smiling at the Man-Thing's appearance while turning fast enough to let him deliver a crushing punch to Man-Thing. Cancelling Man-Thing's ambush, the swamp monster is sent flying miles away. Sallis barely recovers as he struggles to get up on his feet. Truly, Kale was right: Armstrong's a tough one. Getting up from Armstrong's blow, Man-Thing sees that he's managed to remove a large portion of his chest with a single punch. "Ha! Think I'll go down as easy as Monsoon, Man-Thing?" Man-Thing simply gives him a glare, as his chest regenerates from the nearby plantation. Armstrong notices this and chuckles, seeing that this is a good day to beat up some plant monsters. "Frankly, I don't care much about him. But, I don't have anything to do for the next couple of hours, and you're just a nuisance to deal with; a pain in the ass. Still, you seem to be one of those ever-regeneratin' folks, and I'm a bored, superpowered man with no punching bags left at home. So, you know how this goes." Man-Thing responds by pounding the ground, roaring and getting ready for combat. Armstrong can do all but smile at him, cracking his knuckles. Man-Thing sets himself up to charge at Armstrong, and the Senator responds by slamming down his right leg like a sumo wrestler. It unleashes a large energy surge that encompasses most of the swamp. Man-Thing is unfazed, only enraged. In an instance, the Man-Thing charges to him, trying to shove him away. However, Armstrong responds at the same time with an even faster charge that the muck monster doesn't expect. Before Man-Thing can even reach him, Armstrong gets the first strike and headbutts him so hard it sends him flying yet again, now crashing a tree and breaking it in half. Man-Thing gets up and tries to counter him, but Armstrong suddenly lands on him with a smash and proceeds to beat his face repeatedly with his immense strength and speed. After three seconds of beating, Armstrong sees that he has reduced Man-Thing's face to a pulp. Nevertheless, he still takes pleasure in overwhelming him and lifts him up. He chokes the Man-Thing and dives his fist deep into the creature's chest. Armstrong smiles as he feels his arm penetrates Man-Thing's chest cavity. However, he doesn't know of the the Man-Thing's unpredictable nature. Still with a pulped-up face, Man-Thing turns to Armstrong and outright ignores how he penetrates his chest. Confusing Steven, Man-Thing finally gets a shot at the politician by crushing his head with both of his fists. Freeing himself, Man-Thing stunned Armstrong for a few precious seconds. While he's stunned, Man-Thing delivers an uppercut that sets him up in the air. Using his chlorokinesis, he summons a large vine from the ground that snatches Armstrong's body mid-air. In an instance, he commands the vine to slam him around like a ragdoll. It does so three times before throwing it at Man-Thing's feet. Man-Thing snatches him up, but Armstrong has already recovered from the Man-Thing's attack. Before the creature can do anything, Armstrong quickly heats up his arm and cuts off Man-Thing's right arm before kicking him away. Man-Thing tries to regenerate, but Armstrong steps up to him and delivers a devastating hook that hinders him. He continues by punching his stomach and a headbutt, stumbling him. Before Man-Thing can go off out of his range, Armstrong grabs his head with both of his hands, setting him up for a rising knee attack. Although the powerful blows of the Senator knock him back and all, it doesn't hinder his regeneration and Man-Thing quickly regrows damaged parts of his body. When the Senator grabs his shoulder to set up another string, Man-Thing slaps him away and quickly smashes him to the ground. Unfortunately, the Senator doesn't go down so easy as he holds off Man-Thing's smash with little effort. Man-Thing struggles to hold down the kneeling Steven, but he can only try as he sees the Senator laughing at his efforts. Slowly rising up, Man-Thing is surprised that he can't stop Armstrong's strength, but he doesn't lose hope. Finally, the two are seen holding each of their hands in a competition of strength. "Heh, I thought you'd be any tougher when I heard of you. Clearly, Mistral spoke too high of you. Whoever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing? Bullshit! I have nothing to fear, moron! I know you tried to fuck with my mind, but by now, I guess you're the one who should be '''burning at my touch!" In an instance, Armstrong's hands once again heat up and melt Man-Thing's own hands. Afterwards, he lets out a shout accompanied by a fiery ground pound that engulfs the Man-Thing and the surrounding area. - In the aftermath of the explosion, Armstrong lost his shirt, exposing his manly muscles with black traces of nanomachines. Breathing in satisfaction, he gets up and looks around him. The resulting explosion decimated most of the trees and nearby plants. However, he sees no trace of the Man-Thing. Thinking that he's gone for real, he complains to himself. "Okay, that little bitch is nowhere. Now, what the hell am I supposed to..." Before Steven can finish his statement, he suddenly feels a wet hand grabbing his shoulder from behind. Surprised by this, Armstrong is left without a reaction as Man-Thing throws him away. Getting up, Armstrong looks at Man-Thing, seemingly unscathed by his generated explosion. He looks at Man-Thing again, only this time with no such confidence within his eyes. "Well, I didn't expect that..." Armstrong gazes into Man-Thing's red eyes with anger. Now, he's clearly annoyed by his presence and wants to get rid of him as quick as possible. "I'm still up for a second wind, you little punk. And don't even think for a second that I'm scared of ya! Bring it on!" Armstrong's taunt prompts Man-Thing to grunt, readying himself for the Senator's second strike. Jumping towards Man-Thing, he tries to punch him in the face but the Man-Thing steps back and entangles him with a large bundle of vines. Armstrong easily breaks himself out of the bundle, but Man-Thing bullrushes him and crashes him on a tree. Steven managed to punch him away but the Man-Thing, using his chlorokinesis, brings down the tree behind him on Armstrong. Luckily, Steven catches the tree right in time. Unluckily, Man-Thing's still out to pummel the hell out of the mechanical politician. While trying to throw the tree away, Man-Thing bashes him away a good distance away. He quickly grabs a hold of the tree with his superhuman strength and beats Steven up with the tree. After swinging it at him for thrice, knocking him down, Steven puts himself together and outright smacks the tree away from Man-Thing's grip by delivering a side punch to the tree itself. Man-Thing looks at the flying tree, not knowing how he could do that. Taking advantage of this, Armstrong jumps at him and brings him down the ground with an elbow strike. Still standing, Armstrong stomps on the Man-Thing's abdomen, but the creature stops him. He doesn't need his full strength to resist his stomp, he simply needs to make contact with it and push it away with all his strength. Knocking down Armstrong, Man-Thing gets up and with his speed, delivers a leaping smash at Steven. He then punches him thrice with his right hand before once again smashing him. Man-Thing gets back up from his assault but Steven, still not wanting to surrender, quickly gets up and does a surprise suplex, slamming the creature down. Seeing Man-Thing on the floor, Armstrong delivers a line, "Don't fuck with this SENATOR!" As a response to his curse, Man-Thing gets up with breakneck speed and tries to punch Armstrong away. However, the angry Armstrong has had enough of this and delivers a punch cranked up with heat right to his head. Seconds later, Man-Thing's head is seen falling to the murky swamp waters. After decapitating the swamp creature, Armstrong steps aside and lets the "corpse" stumble first without its head before collapsing. When the corpse's fall creates a splashing effect, the Senator looks at it while smiling. Seeing the surrounding area, he observes that everything's silent and believes that the Man-Thing is finally dead. "Celebrating", Armstrong pulls out a cigarette and lights it up, smoking. "That's what you get for fucking with me, you green bastard." Smoking after delivering a quote, Armstrong knows not of the next thing to come to him. His smoking is rudely interrupted when the reflection of a tree heading towards him is seen on his glasses. In an instance, a giant tree thrown by a figure hits Armstrong so hard it takes him on a flight through the swamp. His glasses broken, Armstrong cannot believe of what just happened. He gains his focus, and sees another surprise. "What the fuck?!" In a distance, Armstrong sees yet another Man-Thing with the same body type, but with no wounds of the previous one. Angered by this, Armstrong gets up and proceeds to heat up his limbs to finish him once again. "Why won't you stay fucking dead, you tree-lovin' whore?!" Armstrong's angry rant is surprisingly responded by the Man-Thing, who lifts up the corpse of his previous body and destroys it, absorbing its matter to his. He knows that he can regenerate, but not to this point. "Well then, was that all you got? I still ain't afraid of ya, and all you did was try and fuck me up with a bunch of trees!" Man-Thing, while silent, is actually amused by this and goes on to show off what else he can do. He immediately gathers the surrounding plants and generates something Armstrong can never expect: wings. Distracting him, Man-Thing immediately flies up and dive-bombs the Senator. After doing so, he punches the downed Steven. However, an explosive punch diverts the Man-Thing away. Armstrong gets up and continues his assault by rapidly unleashing a barrage of punches, but at a noticeably slower rate. His fists are also heated up during the assault, generating small explosions that constantly keep Man-Thing at bay. He finishes his combo by delivering an explosive thunderclap. The explosion's bigger than the previous ones, but it simply knocks him several meters away. Still up for some more punches, Armstrong unfortunately notices that his heated fists are beginning to cool down without his consent. Armstrong's nanomachines are losing power. Seeing his hands, he then notices Man-Thing conveniently getting up while regenerating holes on his body. Before Armstrong can do a thing, Man-Thing telepathically speaks to him, delivering an eery message. "Afraid now?" This angers Armstrong who tries to uppercut him. However, Man-Thing takes advantage of his losing power (and speed) by barely dodging it. Right after that, Man-Thing does no punches or kicks; he simply touches Armstrong's skin with his finger. Instantaneously, Armstrong's continued assault is halted when he feels a distinct heat coming from his arm. This heat then turns into pain and prompts Armstrong to groan in pain. Seeing the fire, he quickly puts it out and looks at Man-Thing. Man-Thing simply looks at him motionlessly, telepathically speaking to him again. "Now, you know fear." Turning his fear into rage, Armstrong once again tries to assault him by dropkicking Man-Thing who instead grabs both of his legs (setting them on fire). He slams him down hard with both hands before throwing him around four times with one hand, culminating with him spinning the Senator around and throwing him far away. After being thrown, Armstrong feels greatly weakened and the heat gets more intense as seconds pass by. On the ground, he sees Man-Thing slowly walking towards him. And for once in a lifetime after his infusion with the nanomachines, he feels something unexpected: fear. "No, this can't be... no! I... I don't feel fear! There's nothing I have to fear! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!" Armstrong says while trying to escape Sallis. Man-Thing simply walks towards the presidential-candidate, slowly reforming his arms into vines. When he tries to escape, a vine is summoned from the ground and grabs Steven's neck. He has felt fear, and the vine conjured by Man-Thing also delivers such touch, burning Steven's neck. This prompts Steven to scream out hysterically in pain and horror, as the Man-Thing is still not finished in doing his job. Man-Thing begins entangling his vines all around Steven's body, burning many of his body parts (except his head). Steven can torturously feel all his body, and even nanomachines slithering away from him as if they're melting. As he continues to scream and the Man-Thing's finished his job, Armstrong can only watch as the Man-Thing delivers his final blow. "NO! NO! NEVER! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! STAY AWAY..." As he pleads for mercy while screaming, Man-Thing delivers the last words Armstrong will ever hear in his evil life. "Whoever knows fear... ...burns.... ...at the touch... ...of the '''MAN-THING!" As the message screams out in Steven's mind, both of Man-Thing's hands come to touch Steven's head, painfully burning him and all the nanomachines in it. As he continues to burn the entirety of the corrupt politician's body, Man-Thing looks on without concern. And when all that remains of Steven Armstrong is dust, the Man-Thing lets go of the vines and his grip on him. After letting go, he sees Armstrong's black dust for a moment. Feeling nothing, Man-Thing simply wanders off to the depths of the Everglades, returning to the Nexus of All Realities. Man-Thing, is victorious. '''WINNER: MAN-THING Expert's Opinion This one's a surprise victory for the Guardian of the Nexus of All Realities, and Armstrong's sheer strength apparently does little to no damage to the near-eternal nature of the Man-Thing. With his superior physicality, he may be able to punch away and ragdoll the hell out of Man-Thing. But as the battle goes on he progressively knows that Man-Thing can't really be put down. While fear isn't one of Armstrong's weaknesses, the moment his nanomachines lose charge and a hint of doubt shows up within him, Man-Thing's Fear Touch can burn him and secure his victory. To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here. Battle vs. Zoom (by Cfp3157) TBW. Winner: Steven Armstrong Expert's Opinion TBD. To see the original battle, weapons and votes, click here. 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